Karen Handel

Karen Handel (18 April 1962-) was Secretary of State of Georgia (R) from 13 January 2007 to 8 January 2010, succeeding Cathy Cox and preceding Brian Kemp.

Biography
Karen Handel was born in Washington DC in 1962 and raised in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, attending the University of Maryland and working for Hallmark and breast cancer awareness organizations. Handel served as CEO of the Greater Fulton County Chamber of Commerce before becoming Georgia governor Sonny Perdue's deputy chief of staff in 2002. In 2003, she was elected to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, and she was elected Secretary of State of Georgia in 2007 as a Republican Party member. Handel instituted Voter ID laws and opposed marriage and adoption for gays, and she lost the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primaries to Nathan Deal. Handel was employed by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast cancer awareness group, and she cut the group's ties to Planned Parenthood. In April 2017, she ran against Jon Ossoff to fill a vacancy in Georgia's 6th congressional district in an election that was seen as a referendum on Donald Trump, as the district was solidly Republican for 40 years.